Page 110 of Black Willow Witch
Logan frowned. ‘And, what, you’re fourteen years old? Because adult females rarely toilet paper someone’s house.’
Her friends cringed, their cheeks reddening.
CeCe weakly shrugged. ‘I thought you’d find it funny. We used to prank each other all the time.’
A muscle in Logan’s cheek ticked. ‘We didn’t do anything so juvenile. Besides, things were different back then.’
‘And I’m trying to get them back to the way they were,’ she stressed, a slight whine in her voice. ‘I thought it would make you feel, I don’t know, nostalgic; thought we could laugh about it andtalk. Finally talk.’
‘Why in the fuck would I have wanted to laugh and chat with you about anything when you acted like such a bitch last night?’
She stiffened, her face falling. ‘That was harsh. And unnecessary.’
Kerr barked a disbelieving laugh. ‘Are you fucking kidding? You made a pass at me and then cursed my ass out for rejecting you. You tried to embarrass Paisley for having a little fun with Crew and another clan member. You challenged Clem to a fight while in your wolf form – presumably because she was leaving with Logan. Still in that form, you were caught pissing on one of Ripper’s tires.Thenyou had the grand idea to top it all off with this.’
A flare of agitation came and went in her eyes as she struggled to appear remorseful. ‘I’m sorry. I really am.’
‘No, you’re not,’ Ripper countered. ‘Why would you be? Right now, you have what you wanted: attention.’
Her head jerked. ‘What?’
‘No one fucks up so spectacularly unless they want the attention of whoever would discipline them.’ Ripper gesturedat the other women. ‘Your friends here helped you toilet paper Logan’s house, but the rest was all you, CeCe. What, you got pissed when I didn’t show at the clearing? You had a pretty good idea of where I was spending the full moon, ofwhoI was with, and you didn’t like it?’
A pinch of bitterness glimmered in her eyes.
‘Is that what inspired you to piss on my truck?’ he pushed, his blood still boiling over it. ‘You were marking what you have the goddamn nerve to think is your territory?’
She looked down at her hands. ‘It hurt, okay? It hurt that you chose to be with her overour clan. Just like it hurt to see Logan leaving with Clem.’
‘And Paisley?’ Crew challenged, his face hard. ‘Why have a go at her? Because she was the next best thing to Emberlyn?’
CeCe didn’t respond.
‘I don’t need to ask why you came onto me,’ Kerr said to her. ‘It’s obvious you thought it’d make Rip jealous to hear you’d made a move on his best friend.’
Her gaze flew to Kerr. ‘What? No. I was . . . I was lonely and hurting.’
‘Don’t give me that shit,’ Kerr spat. ‘There are tons of wolves you could have approached last night. You don’t even like me, and you know for a fact that I don’t like you. If what you’d really wanted was company of any sort, you would have had no reason to come to me for that.’
CeCe waved his comment off, as if choosing to dismiss it because it didn’t suit her defense. She looked at Ripper. ‘I’ll apologize to Clem and Paisley. I’m sorry about your tire, I’ll replace it.’
‘Don’t bother,’ Ripper told her. ‘My witch will no doubt have a potion that can clean it.’
CeCe flinched. ‘Now you’re rubbing salt in the wound.’
‘No,’ Ripper contradicted, ‘I’m just not gonna mind my words to pander to your feelings. Why should I? You don’t seem to give a fuck about anyone else’s.’
Her brows snapping together, she stood upright. ‘That’s not true. I’ve made mistakes recently – okay, a lot of mistakes – but I’m not some cold-hearted bitch. And if I was, it would technically make me your type.Newtype, I should say. Emberlyn Vautier has done way worse than anything I did last night. She’s a—’ CeCe cut herself off when he advanced on her.
Ripper pinned her with a severe glare. ‘You need to be very, very careful,’ he warned, his pitch low, anger lacing his every word. ‘You’re on wafer-thin fucking ice right now. If you insult my woman again, I will temporarily banish you from the clan.’
CeCe’s face went slack. ‘You . . . you wouldn’t do that.’
‘Oh, I would. I’ve made it clear already, but you don’t seem to be getting it. So I’ll spell it out for you.Allof you,’ he added, sweeping his gaze over each female. ‘Emberlyn is off-limits.’
‘I—’
Ripper slammed up a hand, silencing CeCe. ‘You don’t insult her, you don’t stare at her, you don’t go near her, you don’t touch her. Breaking any of those rules will fast earn you a temporary banishment. Do not call my bluff on that, because I mean every fucking word. She belongs to me, and I protect what’s mine.’
